The present invention relates to systems and methods of trailering vehicles, and more specifically, to systems and methods of loading vehicles into, transporting, and/or unloading vehicles out of a trailer.
Many different structures are known for hauling a plurality of vehicles. These trailer structures typically involve at least two levels of support structures, thereby enabling a first vehicle to be attached to a first level of the trailer and a second vehicle to be attached to a second, higher level of the trailer.
Typical multi-vehicle trailer systems have a number of problems, however, which prevent these typical trailers from being fully optimized. For example, the support structures in such systems typically include floor members that divide the inside of the trailer into at least two compartments—a first compartment defined by the first support structure, the side walls and the bottom surface of second support structure; and a second compartment defined by the second support structure, the side walls and the roof of the trailer. A disadvantage of such multi-vehicle trailer systems having two distinct compartments within which to load the vehicles is that when the trailer is empty, the height of each compartment is too small, for example, to allow a person to stand inside the trailer and perform work. For example, some methods of loading vehicles into and unloading vehicles from trailers require a person to enter the trailer, which may be dangerous and inconvenient with such limited height compartments.
Additionally, some methods of loading vehicles into and unloading vehicles from trailers require more than one person to manage the lifting and pulling mechanisms. The use of more than one person adds to the expense of using the system.
Further, such multi-level trailers require a lifting mechanism, such as a lift gate, to lift the vehicle to or from a given storage level. Many existing lift gates utilize an actuator to move the gate among the given levels. Many lift gates require the actuator movement to be equal to the movement of the gate, and further require the movement of the actuator to be in the same direction as the movement of the gate. This often requires the use of actuators that awkwardly extend well beyond the height of the corresponding trailer. Such extending actuators raise safety concerns, as often the actuator is vulnerable to damage when it is fully extended supporting the full load of the raised gate. Additionally, such extending actuators may not be feasible in confined spaces.
Additionally, some of the existing lift gates also do not synchronize the movement of the two side ends of the gate. The lack of synchronization is dangerous and can slow the process of lifting the vehicle while the gate is leveled.